Stargazing: OC
by el mano
Summary: Koliter and his squad hold the line on Char and Raynor saves Kerrigan. Now that the campaign is over, lets fight the war.


**El Mano: Hello again. I make no apologies, I just had to take a break. However I wanted to restart again so here is a new story to enjoy. Don't stop writing people. **

**I own nothing, all I have is my name, and the words I use to express myself.**

Chapter 1: a prologue and a chapter

_You think god is out here looking out for us? Conner asked Volka, as Conner opened the chest of a fallen comrade, trying to extract a stubborn piece of shrapnel. _

_Volka took another drag from his cigarette. Volka's thick Russian accent pierces the smoke as he exhales. "I'm sure that God, in whatever form he chooses, whether it be one or many, doesn't care. It's my brothers who watch over me". Volka lifted his C-14 Impaler rifle and fired a hundred rounds in ten seconds, killing a zergling and three hydralisks._

"_Cut the chatter, I Yell, my own C-14 rifle chattering away, spewing 8mm spikes into the carapaces and tender flesh of zerglings, "we got our orders: we hold the line and give Raynor more time". I release the clip from my rifle as I crouch down. Rico, the squads "Marauder", jumped into the trenches next to Valka, and unleashed the full effect of his dual K12 Punisher Grenade launchers. Concussive rounds rained down on the enemy Hydralisks that unborrowed and charged the lines. Valka shouted out in agony, as a stray spine ripped into his left shoulder through the joint plate, where the shoulder meets the arm. Arguably the weakest point of the CMC-400 armor. Conner finished the sutures of the patient he was working on and jumped to help Valka. A nameless Dominion solider jumped into our trench to take Valka's place. I used to hate that red armor. The brand of the oppressive dominion stamped on the shoulder of every soldier, but now I was just glad someone was shooting next to me. Rico had paused to reload his weapons, and the enemy charged feeling the lull in fire. The entire line kept firing against the never ending tide of Zerg. Ammo was running low, morale was low, guns were low, support was low, and with the air support tied up with the zerg flyers, we had no air support. I thank god for the lack of nydus worms however._

_I surveyed the charging zerg, we held for now, but we needed to clear this field or else we would lose our targets behind the mountain of corpses. I turn to the fallen corpse of a dominion solider, the radio blaring away with screams, requests for reinforcements, and the calm baritone of General Warfield's voice. I growl, and motion for Rico to start pounding away again. Rico nods and shouts profanity as he unloads his weapon. The zerg retreat momentarily to escape the destructive force of heavy explosive fire, while I reached down and grab the radio from the mud. _

"_This is Sargent Koliter requesting aid over." I wait for a moment as static growls in my ear. _

_I hate this moment. This call could help hold or destroy our lines. Before I give up in frustration, the operator answers my call. "This is Charlie from Charlie company, Sargent Koliter, what is your position? Over." _

_I give a chuckle of relief , before answering. "This is Koliter, we are located on the Eastern front, we need artillery support on coordinates, 130 echo 1 niner, and 170 2 foxtrot." _

_I wait for a long moment. An amused voice comes over the radio, "You're in luck, Raynor has sent three Crucio's to the ridge line, just say your coordinates and you'll get your fire support. Connecting you to artillery."_

"_Thanks Charlie," I say into the radio. He grunts in response, hands busy patching into encrypted lines. Suddenly a voice calls over the sound of mechanical grumblings, and tank tracks. _

"_This is Lieutenant Suzzi Q, I heard you boys need some artillery, where do you want us?" I nearly drop my radio, a female tank operator, might as well get them to fire at us, then they'd at least miss us and hit the enemy. I wisely keep my opinion to myself, she might actually fire at us regardless, and tank operators don't have a good sense of humor. _

"_I need fire support on coordinates 130 echo 1 niner, and 170 2 foxtrot!" I shout out, as Rico Walked closer to my position, trying to stem the tide. _

"_Roger that, Koliter… Firing for Effect!" Barely heard over the rattling of Gunfire, the whooping coughs of Crucio Tanks signaled the fire. The tanks were positioned a mile away, barely spitting distance for a Crucio Tank let alone three. In a second, the sound of 90mm Shells of a static Crucio tank splashed down on the lines of the zerg. Shrapnel and the heat of plasma radiated from the impact zones. zerglings and Hydralisks alike were scorched from the surface of Char as artillery rained down their deadly payload._

"_Continue the effect," I shout over the comms. _

"_Affirmative," Suzzie's reply came over the radio._

_Koliter peeked over the trench lines and watched as the Crucio tanks rained fire on the zerg. The combined fire of the tanks and infantry held off the thickest of the zerg, Koliter couldn't help but feel a slight glimmer of hope, maybe, just maybe they could hold out for as long as Raynor needed. Then the Ultralisks came through the line of fire. Charging and bellowing, the Ultralisks broke the line. Not one man on the line stopped firing. Not when the Ultralisks crushed seventy men charging through the line and destroyed the Crucio tanks, not when the zerg broke our lines, and shattered our spines, and not when Valka was mauled to death by seven Zerglings, not when Conner was sliced in half by a Hydralisk and left to scream and bleed out, and not when Rico's K-12 Punisher Grenade launcher malfunctioned and his gun belt blew him in half. Dominion, Raider, civilian, solider, bandit, and hero died side by side in a battle that could or could not be instrumental in saving the universe. My men died. The fires of war died on our line. And finally, when I was about to meet the fate of my men, a wave of light and the sound of thunder swept the zerg away in a wave of fire. _

_I gasp out in pain, as my right hand raises my visor. The mutilated Hydralisk's blade twisted slightly in my gut as I dropped my arm in exhaustion. Valka's knife was held in my other hand, and I refused to let it go. It was the last memento of my squad. My CMC suit monitors flashed red as it monitored my vitals. I pressed the medication button of my suit, and a powerful cocktail of pain meds, steroids, and adrenaline flooded my system giving me a few more minutes of life. I rasp out a chuckle as the clouds parted over the shattered lines of my men, and the line. Valka, Conner, Rico. Did the sacrifice of my men both Dominion and Raider, mean anything to anyone? Would we be ostracized, misunderstood, demonized, hated, and ignored? I pray not. _

_Koliter out…_

Chapter 1: The Aftermath

Koliter!, Koliter! called a Med officer on The Hyperion.

"Here," I called out. The med officer came over and he handed me a packet of mail. The mail was addressed to me, personally sent by general Warfield. Warfield had heard of my prowess in strategy and combat and had sent me a letter every other week offering me a chance to join the Dominion Marines. I politely declined his offer every time. I fought the Dominion for reasons that meant more than a big paycheck and a high command. The other pieces of mail were from former brothers in arms, in different sections of the sector. Most of it was porn, little inside jokes stuck to them, and get well soon letters. I laughed at each letter and picture, the pain from my abdomen was worth it.

I survived my injuries on char and was rewarded the rank of Major for my efforts in holding against the Zerg offensive. Raynor himself carried my half dead body to the hyperion to ensure my survival. They tell me it was really touch and go for the entire surgery to save my life. In the end I was stationed and confined to bed duty. I keep telling them I'm right as rain, but then they poke and prod with their instruments and tell me that unless I regain my ability to walk, I'll be confined to bed rest. I grudgingly agree after Raynor came to talk to me. Matt Horner also informed me that Raynor was planning to expand his fleet and that I was to command the marines on the Marigold.

The Marigold was a salvaged carrier from our friends in the dominion, a beautiful ship reminiscent of a Protoss Carrier, if the techies ever figured how to retrofit the engines to the new power core. The Marigold was the average length of a Battle Cruiser, but instead of being a powerhouse of destruction the Marigold was of a new type of cruiser. Inspired by the portoss Carrier, the Terran carrier also was designed to host many smaller crafts to launch and overwhelm ship defenses and counter against mass fighters. Unlike the Protoss carriers, unmanned crafts were impossible to create with the technology that the terrans possessed; however, with the help of pylon crystals, harvested from the power core in the Hyperion science bay and the genius of the science team. The Marigold was able and capable of creating a finite amount of crafts based on scrap metal and shards of crystal the Pylon core could provide.

The boys in coats were working to have an interface with the main pylon crystal that would allow them to actually design ships and other land vehicles to combat drop in any battle field from space. This ability, while strategically sound, was basically worthless when there were only so many people that could live and pilota vehicle on the Marigold. The Protoss were able to overcome their lack of number with technology and bots. Terrans, we don't have either of them. So all we can do is evolve and adapt and fight, just like we've always done.

Heavy boots shatter my thoughts as Raynor walks the Med deck, he talks to each wounded soldier and says a prayer to each dead man and woman, but I can't help thinking he is here to talk to me. finally he stops at the foot of my bed. Raynor gives me his serious face and I meet it with my own. A passing nurse touches a button and an opaque screen surrounds both of us in a quiet bubble.

"Hello Major, glad to see your still breathing". Raynor drawls out in his accent.

"Good afternoon sir, how may I help you today?" I ask respectfully. Raynor sighs and puts a hand to his eyes as his posture reflects a man with a hard choice to make. I imagine he often stands like this.

Raynor takes a deep breath before dropping his hand, while crossing his arms across his chest and standing as straight as a drill sergeant. "as you know Koliter, you suffered major injuries while during our assault and finally our defense of Char." I nod, while Raynor takes a deeper breath. "By now we were hoping to see some improvement in your condition so you may command the Marines that will be transported to the Marigold, but the bad news is, your legs are paralyzed." the world freezes as he relays the news. "_Paralyzed…" _I thought. But Raynor quickly snaps me back with a quick snap of his fingers. "Now don't you go quitting on me now Major, you're not out of this fight yet". I nod. "I got the boys working with the zerg sample in the lab to find out if they can help graft you some new nerves".

I nearly bust a gut laughing in the Former sheriffs' face. Raynor soon joins me, and when we finally calm down, I whisper "when those boys figure it out sir, you let them know they have a ready volunteer". Raynor nods and he deactivates the screen and wishes the rest of the deck well as he goes back to being the leader of Raynors Raiders. I look over to my side table and look at my new command module, a wrist computer (basically a primitive Omni tool) able to download the latest information on the net, and do a thousand other things, but the only thing I want to see is a photo, and with a quick touch, the home screen of the module reveals a picture of my crew, Volka, Rico, Conner, and I. We were called The Pack, due to our Russian influence, and ancestry. While on the ground we were nearly unbeatable. We all were standing in front of our suits, David's in front of Goliaths as we posed. I nearly laugh, but instead I sob.

We were residents on Mar Sara before all this went down, we had ambitions and we all worked on the same homestead prospecting on that new world. Then the zerg came and swallowed the planet whole. The Pack was formed on that fateful day, and we learned to hate Mengsk for it. We joined with Rayner as Raynor evacuated the planet, and we haven't looked back. "I promise to never fail again my brothers", I whisper.

/

Kerrigan sat alone on Raynor's bed onboard the Hyperion. Kerrigan's head was buried in her human hands as her zerg dread locks framed her face. "so many," she whispered. "I killed so many." Kerrigan let out a wail of sadness as tears fell from her emerald eyes. This was the scene that Raynor walked in on as he finally decided to check up on his Kerrigan. Raynor didn't hesitate. Rayner swiftly sat next to her and enfolded her into his arms. Kerrigan didn't stop crying, but she leaned into him for support. Raynor knew better than to try anything else. "_Sometimes a woman just has to cry_," his father had told him while he was a child, _"after a few buckets, you wouldn't have been able to tell they had been at all." _Kerrigan cried for an hour, her mind imagining every child, man, and woman, she had killed, and had her zerg kill. There were entire worlds she had devoured, and for what? What had the queen of blades planned to do? Kerrigan cried harder, she didn't know what was worse, killing those people, or killing those people for no reason at all.

As the tears ran out, and her breathing slowly eased down to gentle snores, Raynor couldn't help but smile, "It's okay Darling, I'll stand by you no matter what, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, and when the occasion demands it, eye to eye." Raynor knew she was sleeping, but he liked to think she heard his little promise as she snuggled into him as they both laid down to rest. A Campaign had been won, but the war still had to be fought, and Raynor couldn't have cared less.

/

**El Mano: Well my first story in forever, I hope you enjoy it. I'll be right back. after these messages. **


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